The Neighbor's Neighbor
by amehanaa
Summary: Lucy isn't able to study, her neighbor won't be quiet, and she doesn't think her night could get any worse. Luckily, there's someone there to save the day.


One thump is fine. Two thumps are pushing it. Three thumps are enough to drive Lucy up against a wall—seriously. She is just two more thumps away from barging up to the wall she shares with her neighbor and knocking on it to let them know that she can hear everything that is going on in there. And by everything, she means _everything._

"I can't believe I'm hearing this right now," Lucy groans bitterly, sending a hard stare towards the wall. The corner of her eye twitches when she hears another faint thump. If she hears just one more, she's going to burst. "Did she forget that she has a neighbor?" she continues to mutter while clenching onto her pencil.

Lucy would put on music to mask the disturbing sound, but it's nearly impossible for her to study if there's any noise at all. To properly study, she requires a comfortable chair, a warm cup of her favorite coffee, and a room where all she can hear are the pages she leafs through.

If _one_ thing is off, she simply isn't able to concentrate. The moment she hears a bed creak in agony—followed by several moans—all of Lucy's concentration dissolves instantly, being replaced with discontent.

She thinks it's simply her imagination to be hearing something like this; she picked a proper apartment like this for a reason. Though it's definitely not all in her head after ten minutes pass and it's _still_ happening. Her will to ignore the noise is nothing compared to telling her neighbor to shut up already so she can study for her upcoming exam.

 _Thump thump._

"That's it!" Lucy exclaims, irritably scooting her chair back from her desk. After roughly slipping on her shoes, she nearly stomps outside of her apartment to give her neighbor a piece of her mind. She takes a deep breath to yell out her neighbor's name.

"Juvia!" Lucy cries out while heading to the front door.

"Gray!" another voice simultaneously shouts.

Lucy's wide eyes settle on the pink-haired man standing beside her. Their exasperated expressions are identical, promptly morphing into a puzzled one. Though Lucy's attention is quickly directed to his exposed chest.

"A-Are you here to complain about the noise, too?" she stammers as she meets his gaze, feeling warmth creep up at the back of her neck.

"Yeah," the man nods, oblivious to her eyes on his chest. "They're just being a little too loud for me."

" _A little?"_ Lucy echoes with a scoff. The man lets out his own scoff before they hear another infamous _thump._ On cue, both of them wince.

"One of my friends is in there right now. I didn't know he'd be so loud, though," he admits, folding his arms across his chest.

 _That's better,_ Lucy mentally sighs out in relief.

"My friend is in there, too," she mentions eventually. "I just can't study with them being that loud."

"Hey, I'm studying, too!" he turns to her with twinkling eyes. "What a small world."

Lucy shrugs in agreement, finding interest at the smile the man flashes her in response. But before her eyes begin to leisurely travel their way back down to his chest, she tears her eyes away from him to reminds herself what her initial task is. With her irritation blossoming once again, she takes a step towards the door.

"Wait," the man blurts out, stopping her from taking another step. "How about you call your friend, and I call mine? That way, it won't be awkward when one of them opens the door. It'll probably take them a while since they're in the middle of having—"

"You're right!" Lucy hastily interrupts him, not wanting hear the end of the sentence. Not only is it as embarrassing as it is, but she doesn't want to imagine how the person Juvia is with will look like after scrambling to the door. By how noisy they are right now, they're definitely busy. She doesn't want to get in the middle of _that._

Pressing their phones against their ears, they impatiently wait for the squeak of the bed to pause as Juvia and Gray answer the call. Lucy and the man next to her are left startled when they're sent to voicemail.

He scrutinizes at his phone. "That damn Ice Princess," he mumbles, mostly to himself.

"Juvia always has her phone on vibrate, so she probably didn't hear it," Lucy sighs. It's not like the sound would make a difference, anyway, considering how obnoxiously loud they are being.

There's a moment of silence as the two helplessly stand in defeat. Juvia and Gray's moans are gradually becoming more mocking by the second. Subconsciously, the defeated duo shifts further away from the door and closer to the wall.

Lucy tries to ignore the heat radiating off his body, but it's a difficult task when she's already trying to avoid glancing at his chest. She jumps slightly when she hears his voice.

"So, what's your name?" the man suddenly asks.

"Lucy," she says. "What about you?"

"Natsu." He raises a finger, pointing to her apartment. "Do you live there?" After seeing her nod, he points to the apartment behind him. "I live in this one. Looks like you're my neighbor's neighbor!"

"Nice to meet you, my neighbor's neighbor," Lucy responds with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you, too." His smile matches hers. "I've never seen the lights on in your apartment, so I always assumed it was empty."

"I usually have the lights off," she confesses bashfully. "I prefer the natural light."

"But I've never seen the lights on at night, either," he remarks.

"I like to go to sleep early," she continues to respond awkwardly. "Except now that I'm studying, I just have a small lamp on."

Lucy swears she hears the man mutter the word _cute_ under his breath. Before her cheeks turn any darker, she directs the conversation elsewhere.

"So, what university do you go to?"

"Magnolia University! It's my second year there," he answers.

"It's my second year, as well," she states with bewilderment.

Natsu lifts a perplexed brow. "That's a surprise we've never seen each other before."

"The world isn't too small, now is it?" she asks slyly.

"No, but really!" he insists. "We should have at least seen each other during orientation or something."

"Thankfully, Juvia and your friend are here to save the day," she replies.

Lucy is lying if she says her heart doesn't skip a beat as Natsu stifles a laugh. Who knew a stranger could have such an addicting laugh? She wants to see how many times she can hear it. However, Natsu's thoughts are focused on something else.

"Their bed doesn't sound like it's going to be quietening down anytime soon," he mentions.

Lucy tries her best to ignore the disappointment flooding in her stomach. "Yeah, maybe we should go—"

"How about we take a study break?" he suggests. "Looks like we both could use one."

A smile tugs at the corners of Lucy's lips. "I could use a break, honestly. How about coffee?"

"I'm more in the mood for ice cream," he hums while scratching his chin in thought. It isn't until then when Lucy notices the faint stubble appearing on his chin. It's not like she has been paying attention to his face in the first place, though.

"Let's just get both!" Lucy blurts out before she can stop herself. Once again, her heart squeezes at the grin he sends her. His grin is so wide it makes her create her own smile.

"I like the way you think!" he compliments. "Let's go!"

"Aren't you going to get a shirt first?" she reminds him after he has taken two eager steps to the stairs.

Natsu turns around, a sheepish smile faintly playing on his lips. "You're right."

"Usually am," she quips. Her eyes follow him as he walks past her, forgetting how to breathe when he abruptly pauses in front of her.

"Oh?" he raises a challenging brow. "Looks like you have competition because _I'm_ usually the one who's right."

" _Usually_ ," she responds smoothly, not backing down from the tension building up inside of them. Though secretly, her back is nearly pressing against the wall.

"But you said you're usually right, as well," he counters.

"Maybe you're usually wrong, then," she retorts.

They share an intense gaze, neither of wanting to back down until Natsu throws his hands up in the air.

"Agh, I don't know how to respond to that!" he groans.

"Looks like I win," Lucy lets out a light laugh. "Anyway, go get your shirt! I'll wait for you downstairs."

"No, wait here. I want to walk with you," he states before rushing inside his apartment. Less than five seconds later, he's locking his door and returning to her side.

"So you do go to Magnolia University, after all," she comments after observing his sweatshirt.

"Now where's your proof?" he teases.

"I'll show you my sweatshirt when we get back," she assures. She's afraid she's being too subtle with what she's trying to say, but Natsu seems to understand after smirking in response.

Just like that, the two slip away from the noisy apartment, completely forgetting about all their previous worries. Their upcoming exam floats in the back of their minds, but they brush it off as they sip their coffee and share a pint of ice cream.

And it isn't until an hour later when their phones light up with Gray and Juvia returning their calls, only being sent to voicemail because Natsu and Lucy's competition to see who has the best comebacks is _much_ more important.

But as expected, Lucy can't help but feel guilty after ignoring Juvia's text. Before she falls asleep that night—much later than usual, all thanks to Natsu—she texts Juvia.

"Sorry, I was busy. I met someone new tonight."

"Oh, is he cute?!" Juvia promptly texts back.

Lucy smiles to herself as she messages back. "Yeah, he's really cute."

And little did Lucy know, the exact conversation is happening between Natsu and Gray. Of course, there's a _slight_ difference.

"Sorry, I was busy. I met someone new tonight."

"Really? Was she hot?" Gray texts back.

Natsu's grin is brighter than his phone screen. "Yeah, she's beautiful."

Perhaps it's safe to say that it won't be long until Gray and Juvia's study time will be interrupted by a familiar _thump thump._

* * *

 **Well, hello everyone! What a pleasant surprise to see you all again. ~**

 **I actually cannot believe it's been over a month since I've posted anything, and I also can't believe that I started my last year of high school today. You know, I started writing and posting stories at the end of my freshman year and look at all the time that has passed! It's crazy. Absolutely crazy.**

 **But enough of that! First, I would like to say happy birthday to Shana! Even though it's on August 21st, we are celebrating now! Her username is Constellunaa on here, and you should 100% read her stories because they are one of the best ones on this site.**

 **She is seriously like a big sister that I've always wished I had. I also really love that our birthdays are so close together! And the fact that I've been talking to her for two years already really baffles me because I feel like we've known each other for so much longer! So go read her Nalu fics, you won't regret it! I certainly don't.**

 **There is some art that pairs along with this one-shot, and you can find it on either my tumblr (amehanaaa) or Shana's (constellunaa).**

 **Also, I'd just like to mention that my birthday is tomorrow (August 16) I can't believe I'm turning 17 already and how did this happen who allowed this**

 **Next time I update, I will be the dancing queen and coming back with some Nalu fluff starting on September 8. ;-)**

 **Until then, I hope you all take care! Once again, happy birthday, Shana!**


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